It happened again . . . to steal a line [and modify it] from Tom and Ray Magliozzi: never mind if you don’t know what the Magliozzis said, but I postponed looking something up, and now I discover a convoluted story I’d love to hear more of.
On May 13 I saw this “new” vessel on the east side of Governors Island, and wondered how long it’d been there, why the logo blue stripes, the namesake, when it ran, etc. … but there were lots of other details I was following, so it slipped my focus.
On June 6 I saw this, and realized I’d never yet seen the two “new” ferries crisscrossing between Manhattan and Governors Island. Coursen might finally be done.
Might the two blue racing stripes at one end of the double-ender be the new Governors Island logo?
That all brings me back to May 13, when I took this and thought this might be the new minimalist look of 2024 ferries. Where was it built, I added to my list of questions to myself.
Googling the name–Mark G. Goode–led me, quite surprisingly, to TxDOT, and the Port Aransas, Texas. When did this Texas ferry arrive in the sixth boro? Was there fanfare at first arrival that this serial gallivanter missed?
Will there be a logo change, a renaming as Governors II, a christening, and soon-to-arrive greener replacement?
All photos, any errors, these questions and more, WVD.
More on Governors Island here.
tugster: a waterblog 
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June 9, 2024 at 2:29 pm
William Lafferty
some background info on Mark G. Goode: https://www.boats-and-harbors.com/controls/viewFile.ashx?id=2194&type=displayAdFile
June 10, 2024 at 3:34 am
vivian cruise
Hi Will
Re the small ferries going to Governor island: Our Ferry fleet has several of the smaller ferries that transport folks and their belongings and cars between island communities here on the west coast of BC. Some are free as there’s no other way to get to the other side of the body of water so are considered part of the highway system, like the inland free ferry between Grey Creek and Nelson, BC, some are quite expensive as they go between islands that are more of a vacation spot with only a small proportion of permanent residents.
As in former years, there are quite a few folks who do live on Vancouver Island that work in industry on the coast and must get to North Vancouver to catch their jobs or boats and crew. For them, there are Assured Loading Tickets that will get them and their vehicle on a ferry no matter how busy it is. One has to make reservations in advance though and be at the dock up to one hour before loading to get a berth aboard the ferry.
The ferry rides are a great way to see the west coast and the break from driving is as good a rest as a nice long nap.
Some ferries like the run from Tsawassen, south of Vancouver to Duke Point, just south of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island take two hours and are half full of transport truck full of groceries, building supplies or car carriers. I like that set of Ferries as they allow for a nice long two hour respite from telephone service and folks with a lot of crying children. There are more truckers in the cafeteria and less squabbling over toys in the playroom. This ferry also runs later at night and earlier in the morning so one can make plans to catch a big concert or hockey game in the city and then get back home.
On long weekends and in the summer there are huge line ups of cars and even walk ons so some folks get left behind if they haven’t got a reservation. Many of us skip traveling during high season tourist times and enjoy winter and fall travel more. One great perc of being retired is the Free Ferry Fare for us over 64 years of age. We still have to pay for our car but not for ourselves, Monday to Thursday.
The ferries ran during the bad days of the Covid Pandemic and one had to stay in one’s car for the whole trip. I had to have a letter from the college that I taught at for just two months each year, to be allowed to take the ferry back to Vancouver where I lived permanently to get my first two Covid vaccinations in 2021. In early May of 2021 there were only six cars and six transport trucks on a huge ferry that would normally have a thousand people and 30 big transport trucks, and two decks full of cars. When almost empty, It was quite spooky and sad but we followed the rules and not a lot of people died from Covid in our province. More folks died of drug overdoses instead. Some ferry crew members refused covid vaccines and were laid off until they reconsidered their stance. Those in the healthcare system also faced the same rules.
I still wear a mask going for groceries in my local Safeway store. We have to remember that the first US President, while only a General, had 10,000 of his troops inoculated against small pox before they got into some of their biggest battles in the American Revolutionary War. They might have lost the war if they were otherwise encumbered by illness.